The Philadelphia Eagles are 13-3 and still need to win their final game of the regular season against New York to clinch both the NFC East and the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
And yet while the Eagles control their own destiny, the signs of concern and panic have shown out in their two-game losing streak.
Philadelphia had a chance over the last two weeks to secure the NFC East and has failed miserably both times. It’s been both sides of the field that have failed as well. Garnder Minshew’s offense has tallied five turnovers in their last two games and put forth their worst effort of the season in Sunday’s 20-10 loss to New Orleans. Jonathan Gannon’s group has struggled to get off the field on third down and has directly struggled accordingly.
It’s easy to say these issues will change when MVP candidate Jalen Hurts is back from their shoulder injury, but the Eagles’ struggles go further than just quarterback play.
Injuries
Josh Sweat will be released from the hospital tonight after being carted off with a neck injury. It’s the latest serious injury that has affected the Eagles’ outlook in their 2023 season. Philadelphia currently is without five key starters to their team including their quarterback, and it’s the biggest reason for their two straight losses.
Without Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Jalen Hurts, Lane Johnson, Avonte Maddox, and Sweat, the Eagles lack the high firepower they had earlier in the year that overwhelmed opponents. Now, the Eagles need to out-scheme their opponents and it’s not happening when they don’t have the players to do so.
Coaching
The Eagles coaches have been the main issue of concern and it’s caused the entire team’s confidence to shake. Philadelphia’s coaching staff has not adjusted their in-game scheme quickly enough to garner any legitimate change, and their inability to find solutions to the team’s injuries is an even larger problem.
If the Eagles can’t get their coaches back to how they dominated early in the season, the team could very well be playing on wild card weekend. If the coaching staff can realize the healthy players are ready to play, then they could very well be the conference’s top seed.
Leadership
Last week, Darius Slay opened up about deflecting blame from the team giving up a third and 30 to Dallas. On Sunday, AJ Brown commented that Gardner Minshew didn’t read the defense on a key pick-six that ended Philadelphia’s chance of a comeback.
In short, the leadership group for Philly is teetering. Without Jalen Hurts at the front of the line, the Eagles are beginning to be a team that points fingers and tries to deflect blame. We shall see if that changes when the Eagles’ face of the franchise is back in the saddle, but there are major leadership concerns that are hovering above the locker room.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
